White Calls Silva-Maia a ‘Disgrace’

Anderson
Silva’s sixth title defense was a “disgrace” and an
“embarrassment,” according to UFC President Dana White.

Silva earned a universally panned unanimous decision against
Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Demian Maia
at UFC
112 Saturday in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E., in a bout that never went to
the canvas. With the victory, the 34-year-old Brazilian topped UFC
records for most consecutive wins (11) and consecutive title
defenses (6). However, those accolades were the farthest thought
from White’s mind as he spoke about the main event at the
post-fight press conference.

“I don’t think I’ve been more embarrassed in the 10 years of being
in this business,” said White. “It’s the first I’ve ever walked out
on a main event, given the belt to the guy’s manager and told him
to put it on him.”

Silva has received criticism in the past for his tepid title
defenses against the likes of Patrick Cote
and Thales
Leites, who Silva also decisioned in lackluster fashion at UFC
97 last April in Montreal.

However, Silva, speaking through his translator and manager Ed
Soares, said on Saturday that he’d accomplished what he’d set out
to do.

“Unfortunately, not every fight turns out the way that everyone
would like,” said Silva. “I came here well trained, but Demian
disrespected me, not as a person, but he disrespected me as a
fighter and I take that very seriously. I came here to do my job
and that was to beat him up and punish him and that’s exactly what
I did.”

When asked what Maia had done to disrespect him, Silva alluded to
pre-fight comments Maia had allegedly made that crossed the lines
of Brazilian jiu-jitsu etiquette.

“I’m not too sure what school Demian came from, but I sent a
message because I think he disrespected me morally by the things he
said,” said Silva. “…I’m a black belt and I’ve never stepped into
the ring and disrespected anyone verbally before the fight and said
the things he said.”

Silva said he would have finished the fight if given the
opportunity, but that his main goal was to “make my opponent feel
very vulnerable in everything that I did.”

White, in obvious frustration, said he wasn’t pleased with Silva’s
showboating in the first and second rounds, where the Brazilian
crescendoed into slapping the Octagon canvas to get Maia to engage
the champion in the way he wanted him to.

Maia, in his eighth UFC appearance, didn’t bite at Silva’s repeated
invitations to move in closer for exchanges, which could have made
Maia a target for Silva’s favored counter-striking. In later
rounds, it was Maia, with his left eye swollen shut from Silva’s
selective handiwork, who initiated exchanges with the champion,
though the 32-year-old fighter never put Silva in any serious
harm.

White apologized to the fans for the bout and promised that he’d
find a way to make it up to the ones that “bought this s--t
tonight.”

“Nobody had been more supportive of Anderson Silva than me, talking
about him being the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world,”
said White. “Even after a couple goofy performances, I’ll call
them, I still stood behind him and supported him…If you’re that
talented, be Mike Tyson. Go in and finish it.”